Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor Is Open-World Lord of the Rings Prequel

F.E.A.R. developer Monolith Productions has announced that they're making a new open-world action game called Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Shadow is a brand-new story set between the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Mordor is the seat of Sauron's power. From here, the dark lord stages his invasion of Middle-earth. However, at the time of Shadow of Mordor, this region isn't quite so hellscape-y.

The star of Shadow of Mordor is a ranger named Talion. At the outset of the game, he and his family have been slain by Sauron's army. However, he's soon resurrected by a spirit so that he can get his revenge. Armed with supernatural abilities, Talion will wreak vengeance on Sauron and his minions while also finding out why this spirit has brought him back to life.

“In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, players will explore the dark and very personal theme of vengeance in a world where decisions have a consequence, and those consequences persist even after death,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "The game introduces new gameplay mechanics to the action genre, creating opportunities for emergent and customized gameplay that will be rewarding for players."

The most intriguing feature of the game announced today is the Nemesis System. Every enemy you face has a name and a personality. Your actions will shape their future behavior and abilities - provided you don't kill them, of course. The apparent goal is that you'll gain archenemies who will grow in power throughout the course of the game. Most enemies in video games are faceless henchmen so Monolith's effort to make foes more personalized sounds fascinating.

Game Informer will have a preview of Shadow in their upcoming December issue. The 14-page feature will include screenshots and art from the game along with some additional information on its gameplay. The magazine plans to release new content on the game throughout the month as well. The teaser trailer for their coverage is below.

Monolith is developing Shadow for Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. No release date has been announced yet.